....and.....the first fragrances and sound of summer we heard tonight on our walk. Yeah...us!
Yeppers, a rain-bird sprinkler. And honeysuckle on the vine. And itty-bitty grapes on an itty-bitty grape vine! What is it about itty-bitty that is sooo cute?
As we were walking, I spotted a tennis ball under a shady tree. No one was at the park. You'd have thought I'd found a diamond ring...( the dogs just didn't 'get it'...sniffed it and walked away.)
Remember as a kid finding a ball? Maybe in the park, or on a walk, or near the school grounds....??
What a great feeling. Tennis balls were good....
...however, golf balls were the Holy Grail..
Nah....I wanted the golf ball for ........Jacks!
I'd bounce it high, and sweeeeep the jacks up in my hands...SCORE!!
I was pretty good at Jacks. No running involved. I was a wuss in sports. Never had good lungs. Never had the desire to get all sweaty. Remember, I grew up in Arizona.
Then tonight, on the way home, we heard the ice cream man - Oh YEAH!
But when I looked for the ice cream truck....all I saw was the ice cream mni-van...
Wha??? What's up with that??
A van. Plain white. Stupid little yellow light on top. No brightly colored menus..
No.....
"Rocket $.50"
...no " 50/50 Bar $.75"
..not even..."Push-up Bar $.75" Hey, if you mix up the letters, you get a "push up bra"! hahahahaha...
Anyway. No good music....just some tinkling and the sound of an amplified cricket..(??) And no colorful menu boards...a "generic white ice cream mini-van"
Harrumph. That's what wrong with society. No Jacks. No ice cream trucks. No front porches where everyone looked after everyone else's kids...Only errant tennis balls that no one wants...
Harrumph. I get grumpy when it gets hot. And I am tired. And the dogs don't get excited about a tennis ball. And...the the ice cream truck is a ....MINI VAN!
Oh well. Tomorrow is Saturday and I get all cool in the morning and have a good cuppa coffee and not have to go anywhere before Braxton & Lulu get some "lap-time"..
Have a great-Jacks-playing-ice-cream-TRUCK-rain-bird-porch-sitting day!
-me
7 comments:
How true all this is and I am wondering as I read this does anyone play hopscoth,4 square, kickplay and tag any more that is what are weekends were all about when we were kids!! Mom would have to call us in for lunch and dinner! Thanks for the memories!! :)
I am the manager of an apt. complex...the kids do bring out their sidewalk chalk and play hop scotch...but I do wonder about 4 square...I loved it...and how about tether ball...I'm to short and they could hit it over my head..not my game.lol. Laurie
Thanks for the memories. I loved JACKS! We never had an ice cream truck in our neighborhood, but we do have an ice cream "minivan" that comes through hubby's new neighborhood. The kids love it!
I think I wrote this once before...NEVER play Jacks in a skirt on the hot sidewalk! Looks like the little girls in your picture are doing just that...oh, well, maybe children have so many other things on their minds, they don't notice the heat, eh?
Love being reminded of the childhood games...Red Rover, Red Rover; Statue; Tag; Hide and Seek....all the fun things we did with our siblings and other friends.
The best jacks balls we ever had were what we called Sugar Balls. They were used as part of the sugar processing at the sugar factory in Garland, Utah. Some of the kids dads worked there and would bring them home for the kids. Do any other 50 something Utahns remember that?
It must have been a while since you bought ice-cream from an ice-cream truck. We still have one that comes through our neighborhood but there is nothing under $2.00! Most are $2.50 or $2.75!!! It is crazy. I have a hard time because Emily is out the door the minute she hears the music (it is like a dog whistle- only she can hear it and from half a mile away!!) and I hate to pay that much for ONE ice-cream that you could get a whole box for in the store when they are on sale. We let her do it anyway....it is part of growing up and being a kid. Love ya,
April
I grew up in a village in the middle of the ND prairie - no ice cream trucks there. And none of our dads played golf. I did love jacks - even if only with the red rubber ball. And we did sit out on the front porch - or the back step to cool off.
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